Improvement in presses for cotton, hay



PATENT" @Fries-L I'uOIxJENZO'y POTTER, OF WARREN, OHIO.

lfM-PiRolvElvl-ENT IN- PRESSES FOR coi-TON, HAY, ato.

Specification forming'part of Letters Patent' No. 5,088. dated April24, 1847.

Ta @El whom,y t may concern:4

Be it known that I, Lonnnzolorrnn, of Warren, in the county of Trumbull and State of Ohio, have inventedan Improved Toggle-v -and Figs. 2 and 3 are perspective views of parts of the same detached.

My improvement in the toggle-joint .leverpress consists in an improved manner of operating the levers by means of ratchet-bridles and hand-levers combined with vthe togglejoints. The supporting-frame of my improved press is composed of the corner-posts A, transverse beams D, C, E, and F united by tenon and mortise inany well-known or usual manner. B is the box, in which the substances to be pressed areplaced. a a-are the sides, and b is the top of the same. I is the platen,working in the pressing-box. K is a conical-sided feeding-follower connected to and descending vertically from the center of the platen I. The feeding-follower K has shoulders on its sides for the reception of the upper ends of the upper toggle-joint levers,L L, the distance between which (shoulders) gradually diminish from the upper to the lower end of the follower. The feeding -follower K descends between, and its sides are guided by two central beams, F, (only one of which is shown in Fig. 1,) having their ends secured by mortiseand-tenori j oints to the transverse beams C C. Graduated ratchets f are let into each side of the feeding-follower K, which receive pawls d, attached to the upper sides of the beams F. The pawls d catch and retain the platen after it -has been elevated by the action of the toggle-joint levers L. The platen I is guided and kept in a horizontal position by the four rods c 0,'attached to and descending verticallyfrom the lower side of the same, passing through and working freely in loops g g,secured to the outer sides of the central beams, F. The toggle-joint levers L are constructed and connected in the usual manner. Their lower bearings are upon the beams D l). Their upper bearings are against the shoulders 'on' the follower K. The joint-pin of eaclif togglejoint passes through'the ends-of' bridle ratcheti-pieces N N,placed oneach-side of thesame, and' extending beyond and on-ea'ch side of the opposite toggle-jointflevers,where their ends are united by across-bar, 7c. The joint-pin of .reach toggle-jointal'so passes through the ends,

ratchet bridle-pieces N, as follows: As theV lower ends ofthe hand-levers are carried outward, the pins e on their upper ends glide freely under the inclined sides of the teeth on the under edge of `the ratchet bridle-pieces. As Athey (the lower` ends of the levers) are drawn inward, the pins etalre hold of the vertical sides of the ratchet-teeth on the bridle-pieces, and draw upon the toggle-joints t which', theyl (the bridle-pieces) are conl ynected, the levers atthe same time reacting upon the toggle-joints to which they are connected, and thusI simultaneously draw both toggle-j oints nearer to each other. This movement of the hand-levers is continued till the levers L are brought to a vertical position.

The extended ends of the bridle-pieces are),v then elevated by the hand-ropes h h, (the pawls el retaining the platen.) The togglejoints are then drawn outward by the handlevers, and their upper ends are reset against lower shoulders on the follower K, when they are again brought to avertioal position by the hand-levers and ratchet-bridles, as above set forth. In this manner the operation is continued until the platen has been elevated to a sufficient height to produce the requisite I shall generally apply amount of pressure. the power for working the press to one of the hand-levers M, and allow the other handlever to hang loosely-attaching a weight to it, if necessary-for/thc purpose of enabling the. pins e at its upper end, which catch into Power is the ratchet-bridles resting upon them, to rel Having thus fully described my improved tain the toggle-joint levers L L and prevent their falling apart, while the operating-lever is drawn back for the pins at its upper end to reset themselves in another notch of the operating ratchet-bridles resting` upon the same. The sides of the feeding-follower K descending from the center of the platen are of a conical form, as herein described, for the purpose of allowing the shoulders in the same for the reception of the upper ends of the togglejoint levers to project over each other a suflicient distan ce to enable the levers to be brought to a vertical position without losing their hold upon the same.

It will be perceived that each hand-lever M acts simultaneously upon both toggle-joints 'by the aid of the ratchet bridle-pieces resting upon its pins e e, and that the levers act independently of each other; consequently both togglejoint levers can be operated by one or both hand-levers, as shall be found to be most convenient.

toggle-joint lever-press, what I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

1. The manner of operating and retaining the toggle-joint levers L L by means of the hand-levers M M and the ratchetbridlesl\Tl\T,` combined with each other and with the toggle-joints, in such a manner that each handlever acts equally upon both toggle-joints7 substantially as herein set forth.

2. rllhe combining the togglej oint levers with the platen through the medium ofthe conical-sided notched feeding-follower K, substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.

LORENZO POTTER.

Witnesses: l

Z. C. ROBBINs, T. C. DoNN. 

